Secrets of the Furious Five

I watched this short animation movie which was like a sequel to 'Kung Fu Panda'. The movie talked about the secrets of the Furious Five: Mantis, Viper, Crane, Tigress and Monkey. The context was Po, the Kung Fu Panda training a group of young disciples. He was explaining that Kung Fu was not just about fighting but it was the excellence of self, becoming the best you could be. He then shared that each of the Furious Five had to learn the secrets of Kung Fu before they became excellent.

For Mantis, his strength was his speed. The world moved too slowly for Mantis. Once he was captured by a group of crocodile bandits because he had no patience to check for traps. No matter how hard he tried, he cannot escape. He could do nothing but wait for something to happen. For the first time the world around him moved faster than him. Forced to wait, he found himself in a trance-like state of mind. And so, Mantis finally found the secret to self: the mind-blowing power of patience which was the key to help him to escape.

Little Viper was born with no fangs, unlike her legendary father who had venomous fangs. Her father was hoping that she could carry on his name but he was disappointed. So she danced to make her father smile and as a result, she blossomed into the best dancer in the village. Once in a battle with a bandit who defeated her father, Viper's deceptive dancing defied the bandit's venom-proof armour. That night, she found courage, a power far more potent than venom.

Crane was not cool. He worked as a janitor in a famous martial arts school. He longed to be one of the students but he lacked the confidence to go for the student try-outs. Yet he trained hard for the try-outs. When the day came, he was laughed at for even wanting to challenge the try-outs. However, he stumbled upon the starting line of the try-out while cleaning up the mess and as he took the first step, he felt the confidence rushing through his body and he became the only one who could complete the try-out.

Tigress had no idea how strong she was. In the orphanage, she was viewed as a monster and people were afraid of her. However, Master Shifu saw her not as a monster but only a little girl. He taught her to learn to control her strength and her temper. She needed to focus and discipline was what she lacked. Eventually she completed her training and learnt to control her strength. Yet one test remained: will she get adopted? In the end, shifu adopted her.

Monkey was bad and he liked to play tricks on the the villagers. They had enough of him and tried all ways to make him leave. But no matter who they sent, Monkey could easily beat them all until he met Master Oohway. Monkey conceded defeat and decided to leave. But Master Oohway told Monkey that he has great skill but was also in great pain. Monkey was laughed at when he was young. Oohway urged him to find the one thing he was denied years ago: compassion. Monkey stayed on and treated everyone like how he wanted to be treated.

The reason I shared this story was I found the secrets to excellence in Kung Fu relevant to God's ministry today. Indeed one requires patience, courage, confidence, discipline and compassion. But above all, no one could be in ministry work until he finds himself in Jesus Christ. That to me is the top secret.